Milestones in World cinema
In this list I chose two films per country, which are supposed to be the most influentil titles made in that country on a worldwide scale. At the same time, I tried to choose titles that are someways representative of a National cinema.
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27 titles
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.One of the more memorable and influential of the early films was Germany's silent Expressionistic landmark classic about a ghost-like hypnotist-therapist in a fairground-carnival named Dr. Caligari. The shadowy, disturbing, distorted, and dream-nightmarish quality of the macabre and stylistic 'Caligari,' with twisted alleyways, lopsided doors, cramped rooms, crooked and overhanging buildings, and skewed cityscapes, was shot in a studio. It was brought to Hollywood in the 1920s, and later influenced the classic period of horror films in the 1930s - introducing many standard horror film conventions.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsBruno GanzSolveig DommartinOtto SanderAn angel tires of his purely ethereal life of merely overseeing the human activity of Berlin's residents, and longs for the tangible joys of physical existence when he falls in love with a mortal.Though Wings Of Desire has a classic look, its mood and style is New Wave in every sense of the term. The synthesis of deep thought, leisurely pacing, and stunning visuals is in the spirit of work by the young European filmmakers of the '60s and '70s.
"Astonishing things happen and symbolism can only work by being apparent. For me, the film is like music or a landscape: It clears a space in my mind, and in that space I can consider questions." (R. Ebert) - DirectorJean VigoStarsDita ParloJean DastéGilles MargaritisNewly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.Form France / 1
The last film (his second feature) from director Vigo before his untimely death at age 29, a few months after the film's premiere. This poetically-told, visually-rich, sometimes playful drama told the down-to-earth and simple story of French provincial girl Juliette who married young river barge captain Jean, and then lived aboard his dingy vessel, named the Atalante. Two others, besides the crew, included grizzly, burly sea dog-sailor Père Jules with many strange mementos, a cabin boy, and Jules' six stray cats. Their new marriage as honeymooners disrupted the routines and the harmony of everyone on-board the cramped and dirty vessel. When the barge arrived in Paris, a bored Juliette left to see the nightlife and to escape from her husband's harsh ways. When she returned to the port, her broken-hearted and depressed husband had left without her. Pere Jules went to find Juliette - and they were reunited together. Noted for a beautiful underwater sequence and an exquisite love scene of the super-imposed husband and wife on separate beds. - DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudAlbert RémyClaire MaurierA young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.Form France / 2
Truffaut's first feature. Revealing a complicity with downtrodden, neglected and rebellious adolescence that is intensely moving but never mawkish, shot on location in Paris with a casually vivid eye that is almost documentary, it still has an amazing freshness in its (quasi-autobiographical) account of 13 year-old Antoine Doinel's bleak odyssey through family life, reform school, and an escape whose precarious permanence is questioned by the final frozen image of the boy's face as he reaches the sea - freedom or point of no return? Still one of the cinema's most perceptive forays into childhood, and fun for spotting the guest appearances of such Nouvelle Vague luminaries as Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jacques Demy and (in the funfair scene) Truffaut himself. - DirectorDonald CammellNicolas RoegStarsJames FoxMick JaggerAnita PallenbergA violent East London gangster undergoes a transformation of identity while hiding from his former colleagues in the home of a jaded Bohemian rock star and his two girlfriends.From Great Britain / 1
Roeg's movies are a perfect example of psichedelic British movies of the seventies.
The movie is so nervously edited that it doesn't stay around to develop the effects it introduces. That was a tendency with many semi-experimental British films of the early seventies; they were so concerned with reminding us they're movies that they don't do the work movies should. The first half of the movie is especially distracting. But after the gangster and the pop star meet, the editing and the story settle into a kind of consistency. - DirectorTerry JonesStarsJohn CleeseTerry GilliamEric IdleThe comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way.Great Britain / 2
A different kind of humour from Monthy Python, a British surreal comedy group who created their sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. - DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsGrigoriy AleksandrovMaksim ShtraukhMikhail GomorovA group of oppressed factory workers go on strike in pre-revolutionary Russia.Russia / 1
Though not the inventor of montage, Eisenstein codified its use in Soviet and international film making and theory. Beginning with his initial work in the Proletkult, Eisenstein adapted montage to the cinema and expanded his theories throughout his career to encompass the internal nature of the image. He was the most outspoken and ardent advocate of montage as revolutionary form. His work has been divided into two periods. The first is characterised by "mass dramas" in which his focus is on formalizing Marxist political struggle of the proletariat. His films, Strike and The Battleship Potemkin among the most noted of the period, centered on the capacity for the masses to revolt. The second period is characterized by a shift to individualized narratives that sprang from a synchronic understanding of montage inspired by his foray into dialectical materialism as a guiding principle. The shift between the two periods is indicative of the evolution of Marxist thinking writ large, culminating in an understanding of the material underpinning of all social and political phenomena.[4] Though largely uncredited by contemporary filmmakers, Eisenstein's theories are constantly demonstrated in films across genres, nations, languages and politics. - DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsLyudmila SavelevaVyacheslav TikhonovSergey BondarchukThe Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.It runs over six hours, but as epics go, it is the "most epic" of all, featuring over 250,000 extras (the Red Army), and costing at the time, a record 100 million dollars. They actually made the definitive film of Leo Tolstoy’s novel, maybe a little Hollywood influenced, but still far better than any other attempt at this novel yet.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.Bunuel's first film, written in collaboration with the notorious surrealist artist Salvador Dali. Neither the title ("an Andalusian dog") nor anything else in the film was intended to make sense. It remains the most famous short film ever made.
"A movie like this is a tonic. It assaults old and unconscious habits of moviegoing. It is disturbing, frustrating, maddening." (R. Ebert) - DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.This is a sum of all Almodovar's themes.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraMachiko KyôHaruko SugimuraThe head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.Ozu is the quietest and gentlest of directors, the most humanistic, the most serene. But the emotions that flow through his films are strong and deep, because they reflect the things we care about the most: Parents and children, marriage or a life lived alone, illness and death, and taking care of one another.
His camera never moves. No pans. No tracking shots. There are not even any dissolves; just cuts between one composition and the next. This is very contemplative. We are prompted to look and involve ourselves, instead of simply reacting.
Ozu invented cinema, from a different point of view compared to what we're used to. - DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTomorô TaguchiKei FujiwaraNobu KanaokaA businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
- DirectorMu FeiStarsChaoming CuiWei LiYu ShiA lonely housewife finds her monotonous life altered when her childhood sweetheart returns to town.Considered by Hong Kong Film Awards as the best Chinese film ever, “Spring in a Small Town” comes with a lofty expectations and it is most certainly a film that is by far beyond its time and space.
“Spring in a Small Town” provides a haunting imagery, with China suffering the after effects of the terrifying World War 2. Although there is nothing in director Fei Mu’s work to imply any political undertones, this film serves as one of Chinese history most important film. - DirectorHark TsuiStarsJet LiRosamund KwanBiao YuenLegendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung fights against foreign forces' plundering of China. When Aunt Yee arrives back from America, Wong Fei-Hung assumes the role of her protector.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKanu BannerjeeKaruna BannerjeeSubir BanerjeeImpoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.First movie of "the Apu trilogy", made in India by Satyajit Ray between 1950 and 1959. They won the top prizes at Cannes, Venice and London, and created a new cinema for India.
The legend of the first film is inspiring; how on the first day Ray had never directed a scene, his cameraman had never photographed one, his child actors had not even been tested for their roles--and how that early footage was so impressive it won the meager financing for the rest of the film. Even the music was by a novice, Ravi Shankar, later to be famous. - DirectorSanjay Leela BhansaliStarsShah Rukh KhanMadhuri DixitAishwarya Rai BachchanAfter his wealthy family prohibits him from marrying the woman he is in love with, Devdas Mukherjee's life spirals further and further out of control as he takes up alcohol and a life of vice to numb the pain.Based on one of the most widely-sold novels in India, it tells a story of love and tragedy in a way only Bollywood knows how:
Well, you'd be heartless not to. At over two and a half hours, the film's epic scale may not suit some Western viewers, but those willing to surrender themselves to the drama are in for a real treat. The film is colourful, to say the least, with some stunning photography and beautifully choreographed song and dance pieces.
Being the most expensive Hindi film ever made, the costumes and sets are suitably exquisite - from the grand scale of the family mansions down to the detail on the women's saris.
The film features two of the biggest stars of Bollywood cinema: stunningly beautiful Rai (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), a former Miss World, and Shah Rukh Khan. - DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonJoanne SamuelHugh Keays-ByrneIn a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.Though the plot is that of a simple revenge western, director George Miller infuses the film with a kinetic combination of visual style, amazing stunt work, creative costume design, and eccentric, detailed characterizations that practically jump out of the screen and grab the viewer by the throat.
It's pretty much assumed throughout art and literature that the collapse of civilization will result in the rise of barbarism. That assumption underlies Mad Max, where the strong prey on the weak, and Max steps in to be the equalizer.
Junky, freaky, sadistic, masochistic, Mad Max has a perverse intelligence revving inside its pop exterior. It's a crazy collide-o-scope, a gear-stripping vision of human destiny careening toward a cosmic junkyard. - DirectorLee TamahoriStarsRena OwenTemuera MorrisonMamaengaroa Kerr-BellA family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.The movie is powerful and chilling, and directed by Lee Tamahori with such narrative momentum that we are swept along in the enveloping tragedy of the family's life.
In Temuera Morrison, as Jake, the movie finds a leading actor as elemental, charismatic and brutal as the young Marlon Brando; he has instinctive star power, and it's his likability that makes the violence of his character so shocking.
"You don't often see acting like this in the movies. They bring the Academy Awards into perspective." (R. Ebert) - DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsAbou CamaraMarie Augustine DiattaYama DiedhiouBurial of a Christian political activist in a Muslim cemetary forces a conflict imbued with religious fervor. A satiric portrayal of religion and politics, sometimes humorous, sometimes deadly serious.Written and directed by Ousman Sembene, one of Africa's best film makers, from Senegal. The movie is the story of the burial of the body of Guelwaar, a district leader in Senegal who made a fiery speech against foreign aid.
- DirectorObi EmelonyeStarsGenevieve NnajiOsita IhemeFatima JabbeThe Mirror Boy is a mystical journey through Africa, seen through the eyes of a 12 year old boy, Tijan. After a London street fight, in which a local boy is hurt, Tijan's mother decides to take him back to their roots, to Gambia. On their arrival in Banjul, Tijan encounters a strange apparition, a boy smiling at him in a mirror and vanishing. Seeing the same boy in a crowded street market the next day sets in motion a chain of events, with Tijan finding himself lost. While Tijan's panic-stricken mother struggles to find her son, Tijan is left alone in the company of the enigmatic Mirror Boy, seemingly only visible to him. After a bruising spiritual rite of passage, The Mirror Boy takes Tijan on a mystical journey, but not all is what it seems.The African movie industry has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years and it is now competing with established industries such as Hollywood and Bollywood. The rise of the African film industry can be traced back to the decolonization period of the continent.
The Nigerian (Naija) Movie Industry also known as Nollywood is indeed waxing very strong at the moment. - DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.Experimental, alive, almost shockingly modern at times, Bergman’s films are not museum artifacts set back behind glass, but enormous, immersive, thrummingly alive works of art that can impact you so profoundly that all you really want to do is devour one after another at a gallop and see if you are even remotely the same person on the other side.
Satisfyingly tackling most of the director’s favorite themes —mortality, faith, the pain of existence— through a prism of poetic imagery, von Sydow’s search for God and goodness is set against a medieval landscape that feels positively apocalyptic, thanks to the gorgeously austere photography by Gunnar Fischer. - DirectorLars von TrierStarsBodil JørgensenJens AlbinusAnne Louise HassingThe group of people gather at the house in Copenhagen suburb to break all the limitations and to bring out the "inner idiot" in themselves.1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot).
3. The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; shooting must take place where the film takes place).
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10. The director must not be credited. - DirectorFernando de FuentesStarsAntonio R. FraustoDomingo SolerManuel TamésThe Mexican Revolution is on its way when six brave peasants, known as "Los Leones de San Pablo", decide to join Pancho Villa's army and help end the suffering in their community by assisting in the struggle. After several battles and valiant heroics, the original group is eventually reduced to the leader Tiburcio Maya (Frausto) and young Becerrillo (Vallarino). When Becerrillo is infected by smallpox, Villa orders Tiburcio to kill him and burn the corpse. After reluctantly doing his duty, Tiburcio is ordered to leave the army, and returns home.Beginning in the early 1930s and continuing for a quarter-century, Mexico was home to one of the world’s most colorful and diverse film cultures: not many other countries could claim a comparable range of production, diversity of genres and number of master filmmakers. The excellence of Mexican cinema was founded on its commercial strength – Mexico supplied all of the Spanish-speaking markets in Central and South America, and delivered several box-office successes in the United States as well. During the thirties, the country also became an important refuge for European exiles. Numerous filmmakers and craftsmen had their own (usually semi-secret) Mexican Period, and German-born Alfredo B. Crevenna became Mexico’s most prolific director. In the 1940s, few other film cultures were quite as potent.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyBrontis JodorowskyJosé LegarretaA mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.Described by John Lennon as his favorite movie, "El Topo" is the only Latin American film that has cult status, was impossible to see for decades unless it was on underground circles, and it continues to be showed in cinemas over the world at 12 am along "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Rosemary's Baby". Chilean Alejandro Jodorowsky made a mystical western, just as Sergio Leone single handedly made the spaghetti western, Jodorowsky created his own genre too, mixing religion and violence, allegorical images and philosophy in a film that is better experienced than described.
- DirectorLucian PintilieStarsMaia MorgensternRazvan VasilescuVictor RebengiucA description of Romania before Ceausescu's downfall, through the story of Nela. Daughter of a former colonel of the Securitate, the romanian political police. She refused to become as her sister, an agent of this Securitate, and lives with her father. After he died, she leaves Bucarest, and ends up in a little town, where she meets Mitica, a surgeon, another herself, laughing of everything.The absurdist realism of Lucian Pintilie's "The Oak" is no doubt explained by his conviction that the 12 Circles of Hell had nothing on Romania under Nicolae Ceausescu. After more than 20 years in exile, the Romanian director went home after the 1989 overthrow of Ceausescu's communist regime and created a parable about his country's uncertain future by setting his story in the immediate past.
The movie has the tempo of cabaret theater. It is wildly grotesque, shocking and sometimes very funny. The details are vivid. The authorities are alternately fearful, blundering and good-hearted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7PgaMDAIJY&t=5s - DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsJerzy StuhrMalgorzata ZabkowskaEwa PokasAn ordinary factory worker buys a camera on the occasion of the birth of his child. The authorities order him to make documentaries about the factory's success. But his endeavor to be truthful leads him to opposition against censorship.Kieslowski expresses the power of filmmaking while examining the consequences that cinephilia and cinematic viewpoints take upon the filmmaker. Throughout the film Filip uses his short films to create artistic expression, shed light on a misunderstood life, and utilize the power of capturing moving image to help hold memories and create emotional connections.
The plot: Filip buys an eight-millimetre movie camera when his first child is born. Because it's the first camera in town, he's named official photographer by the local Party boss. His horizons widen when he is sent to regional film festivals with his first works but his focus on movie-making also leads to domestic strife and philosophical dilemmas. - DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsPredrag 'Miki' ManojlovicLazar RistovskiMirjana JokovicTwo underground black marketeers, Marko and Blacky, sell weapons to the Communist resistance in wartime Belgrade, living the good life along the way.“Underground” is a film about the old Yugoslavia during WWII and the Cold War and the tale that follows two best friends.
Kusturica's impassioned metaphorical fable about the tragic fate of his homeland (Serbia) also reaches this terrible insight: "There is no war until a brother kills his brother."